Thursday, November 17, 2011

"The secrets of evolution are death and time," said Carl Sagan, and explained, "the deaths of enormous numbers of lifeforms that were imperfectly adapted to the environment; and [aeons of] time." (Cosmos.) But death and time aren't just secrets of evolution, they are two of its essential ingredients.

In the not too distant future, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will usher in the Millennium, after which on this earth "there will be no death as we know it." (Gospel Principles, Chapter 45, "The Millennium.")

Evolution repudiates the Millennium.

Evolution requires death and, beginning with the Millennium, there will be no death anywhere on earth. Science can't explain that, but the Millennium will come.

Click the diagram below to view a collection of LDS teachings about the Millennium.

"A good bit of such speculation has been purged. Much, in my opinion, remains to be purged."

Joe names six "substantial elements of the previous version of this lesson" that were purged, allegedly as speculation.

The millennium is a big subject. Just consider the size of Joe's post (5451 words) as compared to the 1978 edition of the chapter (1271 words), or the 2009 version of the chapter (1080 words). There is much more material available than can be covered in four pages of the Gospel Principles manual. Clearly, the focus in 1978 versus 2009 was different, resulting in a different selection of material.

But let's be clear about one thing: Chapter 45 does NOT suggest that any Church published teachings of the apostles and prophets are speculative. The manual warns teachers to avoid ideas "not found in the scriptures or the teachings of latter-day prophets." And all six of the ideas Joe names are in fact found in scripture and Church published teachings of the apostles and prophets.

It is utterly without merit, therefore, for Joe to suggest that ideas found in the 1978 version of Chapter 45 but not the 2009 version should therefore be seen as speculative or even "wildly speculative."